


Tethered

by kitsunesongs



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Dimension Travel, F/M, Fuuinjutsu, Gen, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22013398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsunesongs/pseuds/kitsunesongs
Summary: When Shikako ends up in the past (Not her fault) she tells herself she's not going to do anything to change it - at least, until she finds some strange markings that have suddenly appeared on her skin.
Relationships: Hinted Nara Shikako/Senju Tobirama, Hinted Nara Shikako/Uchiha Izuna, Nara Shikako & Senju Tobirama, Nara Shikako & Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Nara Shikako & Uchiha Izuna, Nara Shikako & Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara, Nara Shikako & Uchiha Madara
Comments: 28
Kudos: 880
Collections: Dreaming of Sunshine Exchange 2019 B, Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection, Warring clans era time travel





	Tethered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RinRynRen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinRynRen/gifts).



All things considered, ending up in the Warring Clan’s Era due to a sealing accident ( _not_ by Shikako, thank you very much – though perhaps she shouldn’t have given the Hiraishin kunai to Tenten to try and figure out, she wouldn’t regret pushing her friend out of the way of the wave of light that had formed from the malfunctioning seal. She was much better prepared to spend some time camping out in the Warring Clan’s Era while figuring out how to get home than Tenten was.)

Shikako had her Hammerspace seal, well stocked with everything she would ever need and then some, her sensing to help her avoid any trouble, her ANBU training for the same thing, and the opportunity to spend some good, quality time alone in peace and quiet to not just figure out how to get back home but also work on other projects, so she’d decided to think of this as a vacation!

If not for the persistent itching on her chest, just below her collarbone, everything would be great. Shikako frowned, and scratched it again, then cursed and unzipped her chuunin vest and pulled her black bodysuit down enough to peer at her chest. She froze as she saw black markings.

Ink. On her – a seal? But she hadn’t even _noticed_ – this was not the time to panic.

Shikako took a deep breath, and forcibly pushed her fear down. She needed to find out what the seal on her was – from this angle she could tell it was writing, the distinctive characters of Kanji, in two sets, one under each collarbone, but she couldn’t tell what the writing was.

She’d already been using hammerspace, so it should be alright – still, she held her breath as she pulled a small pocket mirror out of her seal, and let it go in a gusty sigh of relief when nothing happened. Then she angled the mirror so she could better see the writing and – it was names.

Two names in fact.

Senju Tobirama, and Uchiha Izuna.

What?

Shikako stared down at her torso in blank incomprehension. Whatever she had been expecting this seal to say, it having the names of the Second (and her favorite) Hokage and what she was pretty sure was Madara’s little brother was…not it.

She poked the ink over the letters spelling out ‘Senju’ with one hand tentatively but nothing happened, so she focused her chakra sense on them and – yes! There! She could feel something. Small threads of – not chakra so much, but spiritual energy, radiating through the ink and curling around her chakra system like vines. She tried to pull one away, but it was hopeless. It was stuck in her chakra system like a burr, and trying to remove it actually started to _hurt_ , so she stopped, and thought.

She could feel the two distinctive spiritual energies - one, that reminded her of Sasuke, and was all sharp edges and woodfire and the feel and scent of smoke, who was presumably Izuna, and one which was cool and watery and sharp and deep, like the rush of a river and the darkest depths of the ocean where mysteries lurked, with a hint of quick thought like a flash of lightning or a gleam of light along the edge of a blade. That once must be Tobirama (She resisted the urge to temporarily squee internally at the fact that she was _sensing the nidaime’s spiritual energy_ ). So, if these…tethers, of sorts, of spiritual energy were here and she could sense them…

Shikako focused on the tethers – and this time, instead of following them into her chakra system, she followed them backwards, to where they were linked to. It was easier than she thought it would be, despite the distance, and they were both in the same direction.

She really shouldn’t. She could completely mess up the timeline. And she had no idea what these names and tethers meant, or how the two shinobi would react. She really, really should just stay here and work on getting home and not do anything to disrupt things.

Shikako packed away her small, makeshift camp, checked it over quickly to make sure there were no signs of her presence, and headed in the direction the spiritual tethers were.

It didn’t take long, moving at full speed – chakra enhancing and resistance seals removed – as she was, and as she got closer to the sources of those spiritual tethers she could feel them getting stronger, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. She could feel not just their spiritual energy now but their full chakra signatures, and, mindful of Tobirama’s reputation as a sensor, tucked her own chakra deep down inside her.

Shikako, bounding through the trees, frowned. Now that she was closer, and could sense their full signatures and not just the small, thin tether of spiritual energy, she could tell that they were not just in the same direction, but in the same place – and so were multiple other signatures, some that felt Uchiha and others that held a distinctive undercurrent of the forest that made her think of Konoha and the chakra in the Hashirama trees that surrounded it – Uchiha and Senju. It must be.

And judging by the flaring and clashing signatures, and how occasionally one would flicker out, it wasn’t while the two clans were making peace.

Damn it.

Shikako grit her teeth and ran faster, heart thudding in her ears.

She reached the point where the trees of the forest broke out into an open plain, just in time to see Senju Tobirama, all blue armour and white fur and looking like he had just stepped out of the pages of a history book, flash across the space of the field with his sword drawn, and cut right through the middle of the Uchiha he had been fighting, whose chakra signature told her he was Uchiha Izuna.

Cursing, Shikako shrank further back into the shield of the trees, as Tobirama’s sharp red eyes darted around the field and passed over her hiding spot, tucking her chakra even deeper.

Izuna’s wound seemed to have stopped the fighting, and she watched as a wild haired man with chakra that burned as bright as a forest fire rocketed over to him, holding him close.

Madara. It had to be. She felt chilled. This…this was the moment, wasn’t it? The moment he became the main villain. The moment he lost his brother.

Another shinobi, with just as much chakra as Madara, and just as little control over it, wearing red armour and with long, straight dark hair – Senju Hashirama, almost definitely – leaped over to where Madara was holding up the wounded Izuna, holding his hands out to him. They were too far away for her to hear what they were saying, and she didn’t want to risk getting their attention by pushing chakra to her ears, but she saw Madara throw down a smoke bomb to cover his escape with his wounded (not dead, she could still feel his chakra signature, and his spiritual tether tied to _her_ chakra brother.

Shikako wavered in her hiding spot for a moment, hesitating, looking at the other one whose name had somehow ended up on her skin, before turning and slipping away after the Uchiha as they retreated.

She’d take a look, see how badly off Izuna was, and then use the fact that he’d be doped up on this era’s version of painkillers to ask about the names. Then she’d slip away, and go back to hiding until she was brought back to her time. No interference.

None.

Nodding to herself to reaffirm her decision, Shikako followed the Uchiha, and soon enough was slipping through the shadows of this time’s Uchiha compound and heading towards the large, traditional style manor where she could sense both Izuna’s fluctuating signature and Madara’s blazing one, along with another, fainter signature. Using everything she’d ever learned in ANBU and Kakashi-Sensei’s training about stealth, Shikako crept closer, sneaking onto the engawa that lead to the room where Izuna was laying on a futon, Madara sitting cross legged beside him and another Uchiha, a woman, sitting seiza at the foot of Izuna’s bed.

The woman seemed to be a medic, because she was talking to them about Izuna’s wounds.

“ – I’ve stitched it up, but the damage is done,” the woman was saying, voice soft and firm and face compassionate. Definitely a medic. “The blow didn’t just break his ribs – though that itself would be enough since some of them pierced his lung – but it also got his lung as well. I’ve packed the wound and given him what I can for the pain, but he’ll be lucky to last the week.”

What?

Packed the wound – with what? And stitched it? Why not use healing jutsu? And the damage she described was bad, but not a death sentence! Hell, even Shikako could probably heal that – well, the lung at least. The bones would be harder, though she could definitely move them out of his lung and back into their proper position, actually _mending_ the bones was still a bit tricky for her.

Izuna turned his head to where Madara was holding his hand tightly, as though he could simply keep his brother from the pure lands by holding onto him until the Shinigami lost interest, and Shikako stifled a gasp as the movement meant she got a good look at his face for the first time.

He looked like Sasuke.

The medic left, and soon it was just Madara and Izuna and Shikako, a silent watcher unbeknownst to the other two. She watched as Madara reached out and tenderly brushed some hair away from Izuna’s pale, sweaty face, screwed up in pain as it was. Either the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet, or they weren’t doing a very good job.

Izuna struggled to speak. “Aniki,” he rasped, “my eyes –”

Madara hushed him gently. “Just rest Otouto – we’ll talk about it later –”

Izuna barked out a harsh laugh that turned into a pained groan and a surge of coughing, and Shikako winced and had to hold herself back from going to comfort him. She found that her hand was pressed over her chest, where the mark with his name pulsed in time with her heartbeat.

“What later?” he demanded, holding Madara’s hand with an iron grip. “You heard her – I’m dying. Aniki, you have to take my eyes, you have to – use it to defend the clan, with me gone no-one can match Tobirama he’ll have free reign, and we’ve already lost so many –” His anguished voice rose, and Shikako felt his spiritual energy echoing the pain and grief and determination and despair that she saw in his burning eyes.

The energy seemed to sap out of Izuna then, as if his desperate plea had taken everything he had left, and he sagged back on his futon, breathing harsh and loud and rasping, with a wet gurgle underneath Shikako could just make out.

Madara sat silently, head bowed. “Just…try and rest,” he finally whispered, and the corner of Izuna’s mouth lifted in a strained small smirking smile, just like Sasuke’s.

She’d known the Uchiha all looked alike but damn. And they weren’t even directly related, as Izuna, she knew from the history books, had died without children.

“I’ll try,” Izuna managed to mumble, eyes starting to droop. “But at least, promise me…you’ll…think about…” He was asleep before he could finish the sentence.

For a moment there was silence, and Shikako watched the tableu, te prone figure lying on the bed and Madara sitting there, head bowed, grief and horror and despair radiating off him like steam.

A drop fell on Madara’s hand, which was still holding Izuna’s limp one, and Shikako moved before she could talk herself out of it, slipping into full shadow form and heading for Madara.

He reacted instantly and whirled towards her, shifting to block her from his vulnerable brother, but she flowed around his lashed out hand and dragged shadows across his eyes as he tried to activate his sharingan, sending shadows into his open mouth as he breathed in to blow fire at her. She wrapped her shadowy form around him and did a blood pinch to his neck while also flowing into his mouth and nose to block off his breathing. His struggling slowed, and he sent a desperate glance towards Izuna, trying to fight her off, trying to – oh. Trying to get her away from Izuna.

“It’s alright,” she whispered with shadowy vocal cords, the echoing noise that came out of her non-existent mouth likely not the most reassuring. “I’m not going to hurt him.”

For some reason, that just made him struggle harder, and there were a few more moments of frantic movement as she pinned him before he finally subsided into unconsciousness, shadowed eyes sending one last desperate glance at Izuna’s sickbed as he did so.

Shikako unwound and returned to human form (she didn’t really want to, because being effectively invulnerable was very nice when being around Uchiha Madara, even an unconscious Uchiha Madara – and oh god she had just _knocked Uchiha Madara unconscious._ What even – but she wasn’t sure how using healing jutsu would cross with Shadow State, and now was not the time to test it) and settled down by Izuna’s side, pulling back his blanket and cutting the wrapped bandages with a fingernail sharpened by chakra. She pulled the bandages away and – oh, that was nasty.

The medic had packed the wound with what seemed to be various herbs, and sewed it shut, but had apparently never learned about the importance of cleaning wounds as Shikako could already see the infection setting in.

Sighing, Shikako settled in to work.

Hopefully, when Madara inevitably woke up, she’d already be done and gone, and the timeline would only be a _little_ changed – but that was unlikely. Oh well. At least her healing his little brother should stop him from killing her _immediately_ , and maybe he could even explain the marking on her chest – and the marking on Izuna’s, in the same place as hers from him, the dark characters of _Nara Shikako_ etched into his skin.

Shikako was starting to think that this was not, in fact, _her_ past at all – which made things _complicated._

Great.

**Author's Note:**

> (The way I see this going is Izuna wakes up and is all soulmate! <33333 And Shikako is all What. And Madara wakes up and is all Ahh Evil Shinigami come to take Izuna – wait that’s a normal girl? Wait Izuna is healed? She healed him. And she’s his SOULMATE???!!! HI NEW SISTER WELCOME TO THE FAMILY (sorry about trying to kill you.) <3333  
> Shikako: Even more What.  
> Also, since this IS an alternate universe, and Shikako has realized it, she will eventually feel free to change stuff away! And then take her soulmates home with her. And also their protective older brothers – or just Madara. Hi Tsunade-sama look what I found! Can I keep them?)


End file.
